Nicole van Woudenberg

Nicole van Woudenberg, B.Ed., M.A., is an award-winning teacher with over 25-years experience in various teaching and administrative roles, including Chair of the Ontario College of Teachers. Certified to teach in three Canadian provinces, the UK and the Netherlands, Nicole has also provided professional development for teachers in Africa and the Caribbean. Over the span of her career she has authored, edited and published teacher guides, policy and procedure manuals, a newsletter serial as well as produced instructional videos accessed by hundreds of teachers.

Don't miss Nicole's latest book, Power Writing: From Paragraph to Essay. This is the essential guide to help teachers, homeschoolers and tutors teach the most reluctant of writers to produce well-structured paragraphs. Van Woudenberg herself has been using this technique with her students for over a decade. Her 8-step process has been successfully used by hundreds of teachers and thousands of students.

With conscientious career and financial planning, Nicole was able to pivot from her full-time teaching position and focus on her writing and podcasting full-time. In her book, Smart Teacher: Teacher Career and Retirement Planning she shares proactive strategies that any teacher can follow so they too can plan a purposeful teaching career and have the option of retiring early, comfortably, and pursuing other passions. Van Woudenberg's passion project includes the 85 After School podcast, now in its second season, the only one of its kind on Spotify.

Opportunities for travel have taken Nicole to five continents and 135 cities in over thirty countries. Nicole believes travelling to new places is the best learning experience of all. She loves to explore the great outdoors any chance she gets and is preparing for a trek to reach the top of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Nicole continues to write and produce teacher resources to support classroom teachers and parents who homeschool. You can learn more at her website (google 85 after school and wordpress).